best CPU for gaminghas been our pick as the best gaming CPU for a hot minute, even if that crown has slipped due to the recent launch of the second-gen 3D V-Cache chip, the
They're both AM5 CPUs, for one, and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is able to deliver gaming performance not a million miles short of the new champ, and certainly way beyond any comparable $350 processor. That's why first-gen 3D V-Cache chips have lower clock speeds than their more cache-lite brethren, and why on the dual-CCD CPU, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, one CCD is clocked lower than the other.
But, when it comes to gaming performance, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D still delivers more than healthy frame rates, and better than equivalently priced Zen 5 CPUs when you're talking about the older chip being available around the $350 point.